The original dress had shoulder pads, a collar, sleeves, and buttons all the way down the front (see the photos at the end). I wanted to make it more fun and youthful by creating a tiered ruffle skirt. I used a scallop stitch in white thread to give the edges of the skirt a pretty finish. I also removed the sleeves (and shoulder pads) and replaced the buttons with new white buttons.

This dress was made entirely from the fabric of the original dress, with the only additions being the new buttons.

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Adding the ruffles was actually pretty easy. All I did was cut two strips off the bottom of the dress (for the two ruffles). Then sew along the top of each strip with a long stitch length. You just pull the bobbin thread to gather the fabric into ruffles.

I then just took both ruffled strips and sewed them on to the dress, one on top of the other, to create the tiered ruffle skirt. Does that help?

03/2018

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